Spatiotemporal variation and distribution characteristics of crop residue burning in China from 2001 to 2018

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 268; no. Pt A; p. 115849
• Main Authors: Yin, Shuai, Guo, Meng, Wang, Xiufeng, Yamamoto, Haruhiko, Ou, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Biomass burning; China; Environmental Monitoring; Fires; Median center; MODIS; Precipitation anomalies; Seasons; Standard deviation ellipse; China; Precipitation anomalies; Biomass burning; Median center; Standard deviation ellipse; MODIS
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115849

In this study, we integrated a remote-sensing fire product (MOD14A1) and land-use product (MCD12Q1) to extract the number of crop-residue burning (CRB) spots and the fire radiative power (FRP) in China from 2001 to 2018. Moreover, we conducted three trend analyses and two geographic distribution analyses to quantify the interannual variations and summarize the spatial characteristics of CRB on grid (0.25° × 0.25°) and regional scales. The results indicated that CRB presents distinctive seasonal patterns with each sub-region. All trend analyses suggested that the annual number of CRB spots in China increased significantly from 2001 to 2018; the linear trend reached 2615 spots/year, the Theil-Sen slope was slightly lower at 2557 spots/year, and the Mann-Kendal τ was 0.75. By dividing the study period into two sub-periods, we found that the five sub-regions presented different trends in the first and second sub-periods; e.g., the Theil-Sen slope of eastern China in the first sub-period (2001–2009) was 1021 spots/year but was −1599 spots/year in the second period (2010–2018). This suggests that summer CRB has been effectively mitigated in eastern China since 2010. Further, the average FRP of CRB spots presented a decreasing trend from 27.5 MW/spot in 2001 to only 15.8 MW/spot in 2018; this may be attributable to more scattered CRB rather than aggregated CRB. Collectively, the fire spots, FRP, and average FRP indicated that spring, summer, and autumn CRB had dropped dramatically over previous levels by 2018 due to strict mitigation measures by local governments. [Display omitted] •Two indicators of crop residue burning are integrated into analysis, fire spots and FRP.•Crop residue burning presents distinctive seasonal patterns with each sub-region.•Crop residue burning in China increased by 2557 spots/y from 2001 to 2018.•Summer crop residue burning increased from 2001 to 2009 and then significantly dropped.•Both the indicators reveal that crop residue burning dropped dramatically in 2018. Capsule abstract: The number of fire spots and FRP from MODIS were integrated to analyze the spatiotemporal variation of CRB in China from 2001 to 2018.